Mini Dresses

Album review

Boston trio Mini Dresses play a form of sweet, dreamy indie pop with lightly jangling guitar riffs and reverb-kissed vocals by singer Lira Mondal, who brings to mind such indie chanteuses as Broadcast's Trish Keenan and Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell. The group's songs have a steady, daydreaming drift to them as well as a homespun recording quality, yet they don't quite exhibit the laziest qualities of lo-fi slacker rock. Ear-catching tremolo effects are tastefully applied to the guitars, but they don't come close to drowning out the vocals, and owe more to surf rock than shoegaze. Mini Dresses' self-titled debut album follows a string of EPs and singles dating back to 2012, when they started in Austin as just the duo of Mondal and Caufield Schnug, and while they haven't drastically altered their sound since then, they've clearly improved as musicians, and their recordings sound more focused and direct. Their drums are simple and a bit crunchy, and the guitars don't seem to have the sort of eerie, floating effect that they previously had. The album's early highlight is the gorgeous "Fantasy Nails," a six-minute ode to beauty and romance with an undercurrent of loneliness. While many of the songs are slow to midtempo, there are a few faster ones, such as "Everywhere I Go," that manage to feel brisk and breezy yet urgent. "Post Office Girl" and "House All Lit Up" add a layer of smooth organ, and both seem to be exuberant but also casual, showing that the bandmembers know how to control their excitement. Mini Dresses' pleasant, slightly blue sound is a charmer, and their proper debut album concentrates the strengths of their earlier EPs.
© Paul Simpson /TiVo